Monday, April 07, 2014

Let’s consider term limits for Supreme Court justices

As the Supreme Court (I should say, the conservative
majority in the Supreme Court) hands down decision after decision in favor of
corporate and moneyed interests, the idea of term limits for Supreme Court
justices is getting some traction. I think this is a good idea. The old
argument that lifetime appointments to the court would free justices from the
bipartisan ping pong match played by the other two branches of government just
doesn’t ring true anymore.

I don’t
think anything could be worse than having a court majority of arch-conservative
corporate stooges who could be passing out damaging decisions for the next two or three decades.

I suggest limits of ten years on
the bench. This would give a particular court enough time to establish its
agenda, but still allow for the court to change its perspective and add new
blood in a reasonable amount of time.